Sydneybcfc

I don't remember that far back! I feel there are a few youngsters that have been close to 16/17 on debut, it used to be a fairly regular as a first pro-deal to the most talented that they'd be guaranteed a first team appearance before they got shipped off to non-league. Our academy didn't produce many that went up the leagues after x appearances with us until recently.

Didn't Marvin Brown get a run out at 16ish? Maybe still our youngest ever player

Hopefully this link works, wasn't sure if this was a good place or the FFP thread but the good news is him sitting on the bench is at least adding value in one way... https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/million-dollar-mariners-the-a-league-s-smallest-club-and-their-huge-world-cup-windfall-20221120-p5bzte.html Summary is FIFA pays the club's to borrow their players for the WC something in the region of $10k a day. For a big club with small fry but for someone like us it's possibly $200k+ just for the group stages

To me from the full speed replay it looked like Max thought it was going outside the post, it seemed like one of those "its missing, oh F its not" moments that meant he dived a lot later.

The reality is the whole EFL clubs paying (loan fees and wages) to develop youngsters for Prem clubs is at an end as we're all broke. So clubs like Chelsea have a choice, foot the bill and send a player to a local club to play regular good standard of football or join 36 other players hoping to line up for the U23s in a friendly each week. They've obviously sent players to reading to put them in the shop window to sell them on asap, has to be better than having them not playing causing disruption. Reading is an appealing place for London based players, easy commute, no need to move away from your house or family.

It always blows my mind that a lad who turned 24 this year is still being deemed not good enough to ever make it at this level when most CBs peak in the 26-30yo bracket. If you're a regular Championship CB at 24 or younger you're probably going to play in the premiership unless you never get any better. Now I'm not saying he is going to make it here or even the championship but people are confusing with how long he's been here with expectations of him being a regular at 24.

Salary caps don't work much better, over here in the NRL they're frequently being rorted. Things like the players girlfriends getting paid 100k a year to work for 1hr behind the clubhouse bar, lots of owners and private sponsors paying brown envelopes outside the system to top players. Unfortunately human greed will always find away around most of the rules, i guess all you can make is the punishment for getting caught not worth doing the cheating in the first place.

I think lower down they're far more flexible so it may make the conference N/S a team less for a season but below that i guess its still a regular occurrence for teams not getting promoted due to lack of facilities and the like. I remember that being Portishead Towns problem the lack of floodlights mean't they couldn't play midweek games.

Maybe there's a local company that could help you out? Bespoke designs (that for you would still look like a Tesco bag no matter how well done) and in the shop on time with great stock control from a local supplier. Can't remember their name, i think they already make shirts for a club about Rovers size Bath City.

As an occasional poster on here, this forum can be at times be full of the most negative kind of city fans.... but holy mackerel that thread bar one poster is the epitome of bitter old men who like to make sh@t up and probably commit petty crimes then wonder why the police have it in for them.

Haven't been keeping up with this thread and don't have the energy to read the hundred or so pages i'm behind.... Can anyone confirm though that nothing has changed? They still haven't got any stadium or training ground news other than 'pipe dreams' and they still think they are the best supported team in the country?

Did he start off by calling it a project then change the wording to a 'file'? 2 men working very hard on a file?

I hate to burst any bubbles because it does look like something that a rovers fan would make... However that's just auto generated advertising, its all done by facebook selling your details to companies who put something from your search history or interests onto a tshirt. The don't actually make that tshirt in the same way you could buy it from a store but they can custom print you one. It would probably say 'the robins fan' on the Bristol City version because its all data ripped from the internet and not designed by an actual person. You see them all the time, especially the ones that rip your occupation right out of your facebook profile and put it on a tshirt.

I take that to mean at the top level, our highest place is 2 so i assume that's 2nd in the highest division although i don't know what year we did. And i take that means rovers highest ever finish is somewhere between 4th and 8th in the second division depending on how many got knocked off the prem when it was formed.

Well it was better when you could do Syria/Jordan/Egypt/Israel but sadly its a bit tasty round there at the moment and i only did Jordan anyway. Highly recommend Petra, the place is out of this world.

Don't get me wrong, there is always money to be made in banking and the family are likely very wealthy. Jordan is possibly one of the best places I've ever visited but the wealth there is on a totally different scale to the emirates or Saudi. Most of Amman is like you'd imagine, reasonably poor and absolutely nothing like Dubai.

There are very few filthy rich Jordanians... Having visited the country the first thing you learn is they have no oil industry like the Saudis, no real water supply because Israel took that as part of the war for the establishment of Israel and the country makes its money generally through having very good universities and hospitals (which wealthy middle easterners pay to attend). As the only stable arab country in that region it is also home to possibly the worlds largest refugee population totalling of millions if not tens of millions by now thanks to all the conflict surrounding it. It also is almost totally land locked bar a short stretch of access to the red sea and is about 75% desert and 25% farmland. Jordanians are not wealthy people and by and large live a comfortable existence thanks to the things mentioned above, tourism and likely a hefty wedge from the US and Europe.

Good point poor performance, gulf in class? Bloody Dean Windass

we don't even look dangerous on the break, just give it straight back to them. A point will be a great result the way things are going.

They are cutting through us with ease and we are wholly ineffectual up top

I don't think its all that bad, we conceded a set piece and counter attack. Was 2-0 a fair score... probably but it wouldn't have been miles out of place had we nicked one especially in a very even first half. Pack looked niggly and got caught in possession too many times, he also misplaced too many passes but he was probably my only major criticism. We probably played too attacking, even in the second half we played more like 352 than 532 and that's half the reason why we got caught short at the back more than once. Positves, burns and Robinson looked very good its just a shame none of our strikers could get into the game and on the end of anything. All in all no the end of the world, we conceded 2 pretty average goals away from home.

I think its pretty even watching the stream, they have had a few very good chances but its all because we are playing like we are at home. Our wingbacks are basically playing midfield if not higher which has left our back 3 exposed at the counter attack which is where all the chances have come from. Wilbs and Kodjia have barely been in the game, all the actions come from wide or attacking midfield. We need to somehow get them more involved.

Basically this.. They don't have anything special and there are a lot of teams nearly 10mill in debt in much better positions both in the league and facilities wise. The only way i can see money being interested is if they go into admin and renegotiate their debt meaning they can be bought at a knock down price or they manage an appeal and actually push on with a stadium. In the current limbo they are a terrible proposition. With Sainsburys probably burning all their paperwork and doing as much as possible to distance themselves now the case has been won, even on winning an appeal i think Sainsburys would push for compo rather than completion of the contract. Too many burnt bridges for them to work together and become Rovers landlords id say after all this. Plus wouldn't sainsburys try and appeal if it was overturned? This could easily go on for years and i'm almost surprised UWE haven't killed it outright yet.

I'll give it 6 months tops before people get fed up driving an extra 10-20mins to the supermarket each week and go crawling back to their local sainsburys. If there is one thing in the human spirit you can rely on its laziness.